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arXiv · 1408.4733

Strain induced metal-insulator transition in ultrathin films of SrRuO$_3$

Kapil Gupta·Basudeb Mandal·Priya Mahadevan
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Abstract

The ultrathin film limit has been shown to be a rich playground for unusual low dimensional physics. Taking the example of SrRuO$_3$ which is ferromagnetic and metallic at the bulk limit, one finds that it becomes antiferromagnetic and insulating at the three monolayers limit when grown on SrTiO$_3$. The origin of the insulating state is traced to strongly orbital dependent exchange splittings. A modest compressive strain of 1% of the SrTiO$_3$ substrate is then found to drive the system into a highly confined two-dimensional 100% spin polarized metallic state. This metal-insulator transition driven by a modest strain could be useful in two state device applications.

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Kapil Gupta, Basudeb Mandal, Priya Mahadevan. 2014-08-20. Strain induced metal-insulator transition in ultrathin films of SrRuO$_3$. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.90.125109

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